Raven
by Luna Silverblade
Summary: She joined the Avengers several months after the Battle of New York, but few know who, or what, she is, or where her powers came from. Civilians call her Sapphire because of her eyes. SHIELD calls her File No. 10213. The Avengers call her Kelsey. Meet Kelsey Evans, code name- The Raven.


**_Unknown POV_**

They were coming back, coming to take her back to that horrible machine. The one that made her hurt every day. She lay under her bed, knowing that her attempt at hiding was a futile one, but she had to at least try. Hold on to the last bits of hope that remained in her.

The doorknob jiggled threateningly once before slamming open. Kelsey did not jump or even flinch in surprise. She had learned long ago that it was an action that led to dire consequences.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._ The sound of their footsteps echoed off of the concrete floor, becoming closer to where she hid. From her spot under the bed she could see the three pairs of heavy duty boots moving through the room so as to create a barricade should she try to escape.

One of the pairs of feet began to approach her bed, and she shrank back against the wall, knowing it was only a matter of time before they found her out.

_Thump. Thump. Thump._

She could now easily reach out and touch the boots if she wanted to. Her heart beat furiously against her chest as fear swelled within her.

"Tsk. Looks like she is hiding again. I wonder where she could be. Maybe… under the bed?" The man's raspy voice sent chills down her spine. When they sent him it meant that she would be training to withstand torture.

A calloused hand grabbed the side of the bedframe and easily flipped the bed, exposing her hiding place.

"Now, you should know better than to hide at this point, shouldn't you? Today is a special day, it's your last day of training. You've made it as far as the Black Widow herself, you should be proud." He was stalling, she could tell by the way he edged forward slowly with each word he spoke. Most would not have noticed, but her training had taught her that the most miniscule of details could mean the difference between life and death.

His hand shot out faster than a bullet, reaching for her neck, but she was faster. Milliseconds before he made contact with her skin, she grabbed his arm and twisted, hearing a satisfying _snap_ as she did so. From the corners of her vision she could make out the forms of the other two men approaching her, weapons at the ready. She, unlike many of the other girls being held at the facility, wasn't going down without a fight.

Going completely off of instinct, she grabbed the shoulder of the man in front of her and flipped him over her shoulder, sending him crashing into the ground. She could tell that the other two were coming in quickly from behind so she went into a back handspring, kicking one of them in the temple as she did so. This seemed to anger the other one and he took out a deadly looking taser, one that she had been on the receiving side of often. It was modified to produce shocks that could on for an unlimited amount of time and would leave the recipient unable to move for up to thirty minutes afterwards. She had been on the receiving side of it many times, and it was not an experience that she wanted to go through again.

Quickly, she flipped backwards over her upturned bedframe, making sure not to touch the metal. They were surrounding her. She could tell by the echoes of their footsteps off of the floor bouncing off the walls. The program had been hell, but they had taught her some helpful things.

Her heart was racing, pounding against her chest with every breath. She attempted to slow it by taking slow, deep breaths, but it was not working. Adrenaline pumped through her as she prepared herself to fight the three men, all of whom were armed.

As she thought of a plan, she could hear the two men she had knocked down stand back up and gathered from the silence following that they were using sign language to form their own plan. Sure enough they began moving a few seconds later, each pair moving to a different spot around where she crouched behind the bedframe.

"Come out girlie. You know you won't win," one man hissed. He was right, but she wasn't going to let him know that.

As she was about to make a move, their earpieces crackled to life. She listened carefully to hear what the other person would say.

"Give it up. She's already taken out five units just this week and I'm sick of having to replace agents. We'll do this the old fashioned way. In the meantime, go check out door 152, an alarm just went off there and you're the closest," a woman's voice said. The voice itself was beautiful and soft, but had a dangerous undertone that sent a shiver down her spine.

"Yes ma'am, right away. Let's go boys," the main man said gruffly.

_Thump. Thump. Thump. _

She was alone again. She didn't know whether it was a good thing or not.

Suddenly, the air vent above her started hissing and a steamy looking substance started coming out. They were gassing the room. She hurriedly covered her mouth, but knew that it was no use. The door was bolted shut, so that wasn't an option. All that she could do was hold her breath for as long as possible.

"Uh uh uh. We can't have you holding your breath, now can we? Come on sweetie, it's all for the better," the woman's voice from before purred from a hidden speaker.

She shook her head in defiance. They had trained her to hold her breath for up to four minutes, and she planned on doing so.

Something suddenly slammed into her back, knocking her to the ground and making her gasp in pain, inhaling the repugnant gas. It burned like fire as it went down her throat, but as she choked on her screams she could feel her muscle groups relaxing. She tried to move her hand but found herself unable to move.

"Now that wasn't so hard, was it? Besides, you're done with training. We have something very special planned for you today." She wanted to do something, anything, to get herself out, but the last time she had attempted to escape they had tortured her for days, both physically and psychologically.

The door opened once again, and two men (neither of which had she seen before) marched in. Together they lifted her and walked out of the room, their faces stoic. She wondered what kind of people they had to be to drag a barely conscious teenage girl through an illegal compound to possibly get tortured or even killed.

About three minutes later, they came upon a door that she hadn't seen before, which was uncommon as she had seen most of the compound. This, however, was not necessarily a good thing for her. Usually unfamiliar things meant pain and more training. As of yet, she had excelled at most aspects of training, but it couldn't last forever… could it? They were training her for a reason, a mission, but she did not yet know what for.

The men opened the door and she was presented with what seemed like a room reserved for medical reasons. She had been in one like it many times, but this one had many more fancy and unfamiliar gadgets. As she stared at them, the men laid her down on the gurney and strapped her waist, head, legs, and arms to it.

"Thanks boys, you may leave now." It was the woman from before, but she was now in the room with her. As the men exited, a shadow made its way over her, blocking the bright medical light from blinding her any longer.

"It is good to finally meet my little prodigy. You know, when we brought you in here four years ago, I didn't think you would make it this far, but I have been pleasantly surprised. Did you know that you are the only one in the program still alive? Actually, you've made it farther than anyone ever has, including the Black Widow herself. But, fortunately for you, she never got to the last stage. See, we created a new serum, as you will. We teamed up with what was left of Hydra and attempted to recreate the super soldier serum to create a warrior that would be equal to Captain America himself. Some things went wrong along the way and it slightly decreased the serum's physical enhancement capabilities, but it added something else entirely. You see, when I inject this in you, you will become more enhanced physically and potentially gain powers never before beheld by humans. The reason we chose you is-" the woman was suddenly cut off by a loud alarm going off above their heads. Red lights flashed all around them and the mystery lady grabbed a walkie talkie frantically.

"What is going on?!" she screeched.

"There's been a security breach! At least a hundred agents, potentially more, headed your way. We need to get out before-"

The line went dead and static filled her ears. Someone was in the compound. Whether good or bad, she was relieved- they might be coming to save her!

Unfortunately for her, the woman in the room with her was beyond furious, but she could not turn her head to look at her.

Something banged against the door loudly, frightening her. She could hear the woman scuffle around for something and something cold and sharp was pressed against her neck.

"Not a word dearie, got it?"

She couldn't nod and she was still rendered unable to move from the gas, so she just lay there. Waiting.

_Bang. Bang. BANG._

The door flew open, slamming against the wall from the momentum.

"Phil Coulson, what a pleasant surprise. And Natalia Romanova herself. It has been too long," said the woman.

"Just let the girl go and no one gets hurt," a man replied. While she was unable to see him, his voice alone made her feel safe- comfortable even.

The woman barked out a laugh, "You know that's not true. Besides, I'm curious to see how this turns out. She always was a special one, this will just make it a lot more prominent," and with that the object was thrust into her skin and the liquid injected into her. As the substance began spreading through her veins she could clearly make out the sounds of gunshots going over her.

_I am safe_, she thought as a kind but serious looking man appeared in her peripheral vision.

That's when the pain began.

* * *

**Hi guys! This is my first real Fanfic and I tried not to rush anything, as I am prone to doing in my writing, so I'd love any feedback and reviews! I'm a huge fan of the Avengers and Marvel in general, so I will try not to screw up too badly. ^o^**

**If anyone has any suggestions at any point or an OC they might be interested in adding to the story, feel free to PM me! I have a general idea of where I plan for this to go but not too specific and I love being spontaneous so ja. ;D **

**Anywhooo, please let me know what you think! Thank you kindly! **


End file.
